At a Monday morning news conference near the state Capitol, Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson congratulated members of his Educator Excellence Task Force Report for the completion and release of “Greatness by Design.”

CTA President Dean Vogel notes that the report makes it clear to teachers that “your experience counts and your assessment of what's necessary counts. Citing the report’s self-description as a “living document” subject to revision, the CTA leader said that “to the degree we can make the necessary adjustments to this, we win and if we win our students win.”

The superintendent praised the task force members, including CTA President Dean Vogel, for their collaboration and hard work on a plan to improve the recruitment, training, and retention of teachers. The state schools chief, who is backing the governor’s revenue measure on the November ballot, commended educators for moving ahead on the path toward excellence and conceded that the progress would be faster if schools had more resources.

He noted that no one cares more about improving teaching and learning than teachers themselves. The committee was chaired by Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond and Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Chris Steinhauser.